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We’re about to start our school day, and my head is pounding. I have a bit of a fever, and have already managed to use both cold medicine and the neti pot this morning. This led me to wonder how other families handle these situations:
1. What do you do (as far as schooling goes) when you are sick? (Do you cancel for the day? Husband take over? Independent activities for the kids?)
2. What do you do when the kids are sick? What if some are well and some are sick?
Pick a question or answer both — I’d love to hear what you do when illness hits. Oh, and I’d love it if someone would send me some tissues too, okay?
Angie can be found writing at Many Little Blessings about faith, family, and household management topics. She is also the founder of The Homeschool Classroom and Catholic Mothers Online, as well as the co-founder of Homeschool Lifestyle Media.
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
When I am sick I usually call for a day off or give the kids independent assignments/activities to do. If one of my kiddos is sick normally we take a day off a school since 50% of our studies are done together as a family.
Typically, if we feel that bad we call off book work. If we do anything it would be to watch educational videos that enhance our current studies or allow free reading. If one of the kids is sick, I encourage the other two to do their independent work and call off group studies. We thankfully aren’t often too sick, but I have found when it hits, it really hits. If our household often experienced illness I’d probably be less likely to call off studies for the day. Hope you’re back on your feet soon!:)
.-= Tonya´s last blog ..What a Sweet thing to say… =-.
Usually the Neti Pot, or head tilted back in the shower clears me up too. Our life is pretty much a learning experience whether I direct it or not. I might call a no TV day along with no academic book day, the legos come out, the dominoes build higher, the garfields get re-read, the worms get dug, the trails get walked and the dog gets alot of attention. :)
With my girls being so young (6 &4), independent work isn’t really an option. If one of us is feeling pretty bad, I’m fairly quick to cancel our “at the table” part of school. We then generally do a lot of reading and cuddling on the couch, and I don’t count it as an “official” day of school. I remember how hard it was to do my work at school (I didn’t homeschool) when I was little and sick…you know, that kind of sick where you’re not sick enough to stay home, but you still just don’t feel good. I know on those days I didn’t really learn much. Because of that I would rather skip it for the day and get back to it when they really feel like learning.
If I am sick, I either let the kids do independent work or I just do school in my pj’s. Depends on how bad it is :)
If they are sick, I will give them a day or two off, but if they aren’t too bad, I’ll have them do some work on the couch or in bed. I’ll also read aloud from their books, and do little things on our mini white boards on their laps. I have girls and they actually like that. If they’re very sick, though, we just take the day off.
.-= Angela @ Homegrown Mom´s last blog ..Staying on Task with Google Calendar =-.
You mean we aren’t supposed to do school in our jammies every day? Uh oh! ;)
.-= Angie @ Many Little Blessings´s last blog ..7 Quick Takes: February 12, 2010 (Vol. 29) =-.
It’s tough when one of us is sick. I never thought about what it would be like to have my son get sick and then I usually get whatever he had a few days later. We take it easy. We don’t always take the day off, but we might do lessons on the couch or some half days until we feel better. Sometimes we just scrap everything, but I find that we usually pay for it if we take too much time off with unstructured free time.
.-= Julie´s last blog ..thinking…inside the box? =-.
If anyone isn’t feeling well, either me or the kids, we just take it easy and lay around for the day.
If it’s me, I’ll give them a few on their own assignments. If it’s them, we take a sick day.
.-= Sarah @ OrdinaryDays´s last blog ..How To: Clean Your Sink With Lemons =-.
I hope you feel better soon! I’m all for learning even when I or my children are sick. …… BUT we learn about things like compassion by nurturing the sick one and keeping our voices quiet. We practice those wonderful life skills by having others cook for and serve those that feel poorly. There are some things my children can do (as far as school work goes) on their own and they work on that if I am sick. If a child is sick we take care of them and make them comfortable usually on the couch and we watch a video or listen to an audio book together.
.-= Dana´s last blog ..SpellQuizzer Review & Give Away =-.
Dana ~
I love your answer and second it. Sounds exactly like what we do at our house. Learning to care for and serve those in need even if that person is you is an essential skill in my book.
If MOM is sick, we will read more books, listen to audio books, or generally play and have fun. I don’t require school work. Since we have 4, I will depend on the big kids to help with the little kids so Mom can rest. We might also watch a movie.
If a child is sick (like actually SICK) they pretty much have to stay in their bed. They can read or listen to an audiobook, but if they’re too sick to do chores or school, then they’re too sick to play. Depending on which kid is sick, some or all of the kids will be out of school that day.
Good question! My daughter was sick one day recently, and I made this post: http://alexml.blogspot.com/2010/01/sick-bed.html. I only have one child, so when she’s sick, school is called off for the day.
This week, I had 2 really bad days with a pulled muscle that left my lying flat on the couch all day. My daughter has an online class, and she had to prepare for that and do it. We got through as much of the rest of school as possible.
Two years ago, I spent a week in the hospital. For that time, my daughter went to some grandparents and didn’t do school. Actually, I think they tried to do some educational games online for about 30 minutes a day. But, I think her time spent with her grandparents was a good thing for her, and I definitely couldn’t teach! :-)